New Media and Self-Identity : Who are We?
Friday, October 16, 2009 by Yasmine
Regarding the lecture on ‘New Media and Self-Identity’ (17.08.09), I have recently realised as I was doing what I do everyday… Face Booking, (which I should mention is great, because it allows me to communicate with people, but not face to face), that a friend of mine posted a profile picture of herself which was completely edited and photo shopped. Her skin colour and even the colour of her eyes looked entirely different to what they do in real life. She laughed, (or ‘LOLED’), at a few comments people wrote about her photo, because they found it so immaculately photo shopped to the degree which it did not even look like her.
This brings in the view about the idea of the ‘idealised self’, which Luke Goode was talking about in the lecture. I guess that this is the way some people want to present themselves to others while communicating with them in the virtual world. In a way, we all want to look our best, and somehow the virtual community allows the individual to ‘appropriate’ him or herself.
However, this bring in the question of “what is identity” and whether or not there is an identity crisis in today’s modern and developing society, especially with the advanced technology, such as the Internet and other new media. Sherry Turkle also looks closely at this topic in her “Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet” (1995), (http://www.transparencynow.com/turkle.htm ), where she asks the questions about the idea of the ‘windowed self’. The link above is an article about Turkle’s theory; from this one is able to understand her view points made about the idea of self and identity, which is also linked to ‘Cyborg Identities.’ In this article it quotes “that simulation and "reality" will, one day, merge or become indistinguishable as a result of the progress of science and technology.” This can be related to how many people, whether on SNS sites or playing online virtual games, represent themselves in the offline world, or ‘appropriate’ themselves, as stated above in my example about Face Book.
Thus, I agree with Lee Siegal who states that there appears to be some kind of ‘culture narcissism’ or self obsession. This is apparent in today’s world of online communication, where one presents himself in the most idealised way for example, or perhaps updating his or her profile page constantly, seeking some sort of attention from those on the other screen. In the end, it appears that ‘New Media and Self-Identity’, is not just motivating people to fake being who they are, nor is it just allowing them to deceive others, but mostly it is allowing the individual to perform their identity.
This brings in the view about the idea of the ‘idealised self’, which Luke Goode was talking about in the lecture. I guess that this is the way some people want to present themselves to others while communicating with them in the virtual world. In a way, we all want to look our best, and somehow the virtual community allows the individual to ‘appropriate’ him or herself.
However, this bring in the question of “what is identity” and whether or not there is an identity crisis in today’s modern and developing society, especially with the advanced technology, such as the Internet and other new media. Sherry Turkle also looks closely at this topic in her “Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet” (1995), (http://www.transparencynow.com/turkle.htm ), where she asks the questions about the idea of the ‘windowed self’. The link above is an article about Turkle’s theory; from this one is able to understand her view points made about the idea of self and identity, which is also linked to ‘Cyborg Identities.’ In this article it quotes “that simulation and "reality" will, one day, merge or become indistinguishable as a result of the progress of science and technology.” This can be related to how many people, whether on SNS sites or playing online virtual games, represent themselves in the offline world, or ‘appropriate’ themselves, as stated above in my example about Face Book.
Thus, I agree with Lee Siegal who states that there appears to be some kind of ‘culture narcissism’ or self obsession. This is apparent in today’s world of online communication, where one presents himself in the most idealised way for example, or perhaps updating his or her profile page constantly, seeking some sort of attention from those on the other screen. In the end, it appears that ‘New Media and Self-Identity’, is not just motivating people to fake being who they are, nor is it just allowing them to deceive others, but mostly it is allowing the individual to perform their identity.